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“I want to go. I want to get our life back to normal,” hesays. “It’s just…we haven’t really seen anyone yet. Not outside of family. It’s gonna be?—”

“A lot,” I finish for him.

“Yeah,” he nods.

I pull back just enough for him to see me in the mirror. “We’ll go in, have a drink, let people be weird for a few minutes. And if you want to leave at any point, we leave; we don’t owe them any answers. I don’t care where we are as long as we’re together.”

“Yeah. Okay.” He exhales, then shakes himself off, turning around and grabbing me and pulling me in for a quick kiss. “But if anyone says some dumb shit, I fully expect you to cause a scene so I don’t have to.”

I grin. “Oh, baby. You think I’m capable of subtlety at this point?”

Ryder laughs, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before stepping back. “Alright. Let’s go.”

36

RYDER

“Ready?” Logan asks as we stand outside Pine Bar.

I exhale and turn to look at him. “Guess it’s now or never.”

He lets out a little laugh. “You sound like we’re about to step onto a battlefield.”

“Have you met the people inside this bar? That’s exactly what it’ll be like,” I say as I raise my eyebrows because he knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Logan laughs again. “Okay, okay. But if anyone gives you shit, remember, you asked me to cause a scene. I’ll gladly tell them to fuck off.”

“I feel like I’m gonna regret that, huh?” I question, even though I love his protectiveness.

“Nah. I won’t do anything too embarrassing, I promise,” he grins before reaching for my hand and slotting our fingers together and using his other hand to open the door.

I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe the whole bar to fall silent as everyone turned to stare at us, but only a few people even turn to the door and see us when we walk in.Most people are still engrossed in their conversations, and it’s not like we knoweveryonein the bar. But there is the standard Friday night crowd, like us.

The one person who does see us immediately is Mia. She’s got her red bandana tied around her black curls, a black tank top, and jeans. Instead of calling out to us, though, she raises an eyebrow, smirks, and nods her head toward the table we usually sit at.

Logan leans in. “That was very cryptic.”

I snort, tugging him toward our table.

Mia is already seated at the table we usually claim, two beers in front of her, looking entirely too pleased with herself. She gestures at the drinks. “Sit. Drink. Prepare yourselves.”

Logan slides in first, giving her a suspicious look. “For what, exactly?”

She leans forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I wanted to talk to you two before you got ambushed by everyone else.”

I pause, beer halfway to my mouth. “Ambushed?”

Mia shrugs like we should expect more attention. “You’re kinda a hot topic right now.”

Logan rolls his eyes. “Oh, come on. The news cycle has moved on.”

“Not for the people in this bar,” Mia says, looking at me now. “The ones who’ve known you forever—the ones who’ve been waiting for you to finally get your shit together.”

I set my beer down, looking around and seeing a few people looking our way, but nothing crazy. Wait, is she talking about?—

“I’m so happy you’re finally together!” she manages to squeal at a low volume. “I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for this day.”

I let out a little laugh, grateful she wasn’t bringing up the Kyle situation, only the fact that Logan and I just walked in holding hands.